Tag Archives: Pregnancy Recovery

Then comes the apparent fact that you can kiss your waist, breasts and “lady bits” goodbye.

Perhaps for me, it was because I’d spent the last decade working part time as a model, perhaps it was the well meaning, yet overly terrifying images that people unintentionally imprinted into my imagination, or perhaps it was the fact that my mother had lamented on an almost daily basis about the mummy tummy gifted to her by yours truly.

Whatever it was, as soon as we had our “Let’s start a family” conversation, I raced out to research every possible way that I could support myself throughout pregnancy and beyond.

What I found straight away was two definitive answers:

That no matter what, your body will permanently change in some way, shape or form. Feet can even go up by an entire shoe size. Or two (“Yes, Darling… I need ANOTHER new pair of shoes. Not my fault, my feet are bigger after bearing your children…”).

That every single woman has an individual divine design that will dictate their own unique size, shape and body type.

Being healthy, fit and supporting my own body shape, became my priority as well as minimizing any damage that could result from the incredible physical feat I was about to embark on.

No different to applying sunscreen every day to prevent premature ageing of the skin, I decided that prevention would be much better than cure and so I focused on products and healthy habits that could assist me this outcome.

My first discovery was the SRC Recovery Shorts. If you know me, and you’ve told me you’re pregnant, you no doubt have heard me go on, and on, and on, and on (and on!) about these shorts.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a pretty confident statement that I believe 100% that these shorts are the reason the waist I was born with and enjoyed in my early 20’s is a very close cousin of the waist I have now in my 30’s after bearing three gorgeous babies.

I also have no doubt that it has the potential to manifest further back into a slightly more mature-looking identical twin sister once I manage to start hitting the gym again.

Pre-Baby On Board Two Weeks Post Baby 1 Back Shooting In Studio

Six Days Post Baby 236 Weeks Along With Baby 3Three Weeks Post Baby 3

In the three post baby photos, I was right in the middle of wearing my SRC shorts. During this time, I literally watched my stomach go from swollen and unbelievably stretched back to a place of normalcy by being supported and protected during it’s most vulnerable phase of metamorphosis.

The theory behind the shorts wasn’t rocket science, in fact, it was simply a better designed, packaged and convenient way of centuries old belly binding.

The SRC Recovery shorts are a medical compression garment designed to be worn for the first 8 – 10 weeks post pregnancy, for as many hours as comfortable (both night and day) for best results.

For the first few weeks after having a baby, you will still be losing fluid and research has shown that providing support to a wound or swollen area can reduce swelling, pain and aid healing.

Think of it like this… for 9 months, you’ve slowly grown a watermelon inside of your stomach. It’s being held up there in an insane, gravity defying way, then the next minute, the watermelon is out and everything has nowhere to go but back down to earth. You want to guide that previous watermelon residence back down to earth gently with a scientifically-proven support crew in place.

I began wearing my shorts the moment I was up and out of bed and I wore them 24/7 for 6 weeks or more post partum. I also had a piece of medical tubing that I would use when my shorts were being washed, dried and I put them straight back on again. And the results were nothing short of amazing.

By the time Ava was born (2013), the market seemed to have a few more products on offer. I did try some of them out but I found that the level of support and the results were nothing like what I was seeing with my SRC Recovery Shorts. They’d proven to work twice before and I was not going to take my chances third time around.

Yes, it was at times irritating to have to wear them 24/7 in the middle of a hot Australian summer but seeing my stomach defy THREE TIMES what I had been lead to believe was the inevitable, was more than enough incentive for me.

A word of warning however: If you are going to do it, spend money on a product and put your faith in it, you MUST follow through on the recommended instructions. Wearing intermittently, wearing for a short time, not starting them early enough, using a product that has been worn for multiple pregnancies and/or not cared for according to instructions may not give the same results.

Another cautionary note: This product is a support garment, not a weight loss product. It has the capacity to support your mid-section and return you to a great point to restart your post baby fitness goals, and while I can only describe my results as ‘miraculous’, it’s not going to give anyone a waist, butt or thighs that they weren’t born with or that they didn’t work hard for.

Even if a flat tummy is not high on your list of priorities, there is a huge amount of research to show why post partum belly binding is something to still consider for health and wellbeing reasons.

SRC Health has a range of products to support women in pregnancy and beyond. Their original Australian designs meet the needs of a new mum and the rest of the family. More information on their unique, patented designs, sizing guide and online shop can be found here: http://www.srchealth.com